AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Wickham: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, keep the ignition and engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out right where the car stands around Wickham, is usually what it needs when found before your engine runs. The rest of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of newer diesels in Shedfield, as well as Wickham, run on two liquids; the engine gets only your diesel. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Plenty of motors share a single flap for both, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt visit, again and again. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think which cap to use. It is in the gap that the error lives.
Wickham: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things lining up at once.
On a driveway off The Square before work, or in the car park outside King's Head heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and if it is empty, limp mode follows.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip after it has started. Whether it happens in Wickham Common or the middle of Wickham, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Turkey Island or a forecourt in Wickham, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- On plenty of cars, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Look for it.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you pick up a hire car or fleet car — at Fareham's car park, perhaps — not once the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere in Hampshire, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Bridge Street.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have located your filler and read the cap.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the car, shut the cap and check a second time that the diesel cap never came off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Step five is off limits.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Wickham?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — so keep it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Shell, Tesco or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car away if asked. Your own drive around Wickham is where it stays.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Wickham sits under 3 miles from the M27; there, take the next junction. A short hop across Wickham is a smaller job than a run towards Portsmouth, under 10 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Wickham, and what occurs next
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Wickham Church of England Primary School, close to Bay Tree Walk or on your own drive. Which liquid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: we ask since the replies set both work and price. During the call itself, you are told our price — before anything else.
Your system is then cleaned thoroughly, after that tank is drained. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Then our technicians fire it up and make sure it runs correctly before we leave.
Unrun vehicles mostly need a half-hour visit from arrival. The kit is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Wrong-fuel cover is included in many insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Wickham, for a moment
Wickham is a town situated on the River Meon in Hampshire, with a riverside setting and an elevation of around 27 metres. Wickham lies near the south coast of England, approximately 62 miles from London and 8 miles from Portsmouth. Wickham has a mix of housing types, but detached homes are predominant, and the town is surrounded by nearby places such as Wickham Common and Hundred Acres. Wickham has a population of around 2505 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains around Wickham and across Hampshire
Wickham is a riverside town, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Hundred Acres and Crockerhill among them, across the PO postcode area. Quickest of all: give a PO17 5 postcode to our van.
No need to move your car. Wherever it stands — beside Warwick Lane, on a lay-by heading to Wickham Water Meadows, on a drive — that is where it gets cleared. Assuming won't help at the back of Chesapeake Mill, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Wickham motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave it off then ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere in Hampshire.